Plans are afoot to move than 400 homeless people from encampments and into temporary shelters over the next several days, Denver officials said.

A key part of the strategy is sweeping seven homeless encampments, which could translate to a make-or-break scenario for Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, whose administration is racing to get 1,000 people off of the city’s streets before the year ends.

Denver to consider operator for emergency homeless shelters

Denver officials have said the onset of frigid weather is a major reason for the push to move people into temporary shelters.

Temperatures in Denver have plunged at night in the last several days, conditions that likely will persist through the holidays, and, in theory, make it easier to persuade the city’s “unsheltered” population — those who live in public places, such as streets and parks — to move into a shelter.

“The onset of cold weather underscores the urgency,” a city spokesperson earlier told The Denver Gazette. “For the cold move-in days ahead, outreach staff have warming supplies, such as thermal blankets, gloves, socks, and hand warmers, to provide to unhoused residents during their transition.”

City officials earlier said they are prepared for any weather situation as they tackle the city’s homelessness crisis. 

“We are always moving people in and we’re always changing the needs related to weather. All those sort of situations are always changing,” Cole Chandler, the city’s senior homeless adviser, told city councilmembers at an emergency meeting last week, when he talked about the administration’s housing efforts before the New Year.

City officials did not disclose the exact locations of the seven encampments they plan to shut down. However, the city provided exact dates, times and temporary housing locations in preparation for the “move-in” days. 

The administration already provided a seven-day notice for the next three sweeps, which will occur each day between Dec. 19 and Dec. 21.

City officials claimed the next set of encampment closures would result in housing more than 400 more homeless people, which could bring the city very close to — or perhaps over, with a little more push — the mayor’s 1,000 goal.

Mayor Mike Johnston sees 'path' to getting 1,000 homeless people off of Denver's streets by Dec. 31

So far, the city’s campaign has led to 550 homeless people being housed as of Wednesday, according to the Denver’s homeless housing dashboard. 

Johnston’s administration prepared at least three hotels and the “micro-community” at 12033 E. 38th Ave. to move homeless people from encampments into.

Johnston’s focus on homelessness was expected. During his campaign, he promised to solve homelessness in his first term as mayor. Hunkering down, his administration activated an emergency center, appointed a homeless adviser, and sought the cooperation of councilmembers, who have agreed to fund his efforts.

Denver’s homelessness crisis is specially acute. Of Colorado’s major cities, Denver saw the biggest increase in the number of homeless people — 5,818 as of January, up from 4,794 last year, according to a point-in-time count that offers a single night’s snapshot of the crisis back in January.

Between 2022 and 2023, the number of “unsheltered” people grew by 33%, from 2,078 to 2,763, according to the survey. Undergirding Johnston’s promise to end homelessness is an approach popular among the city’s homeless advocacy groups: “housing first.” The idea is to respond to an individual’s most acute need first, which is housing, and then offer other services, such as mental health treatment, later.

Within the next two years, the city is poised to spend roughly half a billion dollars on the crisis. Indeed, since taking office in July, the city has spent millions toward acquiring tiny units — as many as 1,400.

A Denver Gazette analysis shows that each housing unit in a “micro-community” — which serves as the anchor of Johnston’s plan to move 1,000 homeless people off of the city’s streets by the end of 2023 — costs roughly $87,000 per unit. All told, the city is spending at least $13 million for three “micro-communities” currently under construction.

That figure includes expenses for the shelters, as well as contracts for services that Denver’s councilmembers already approved. The cost doesn’t count the value of the land where the micro-communities are being built, or the expenses for the construction to prepare the properties.

During a council hearing on Monday, some activists urged against sweeping homeless encampments when the temperature hits 32 degrees, despite the Johnston administration’s strategy of ensuring that hotels and other shelters are available to move into. Johnston and city officials have claimed that 90% to 100% of homeless people who have been offered temporary housing have accepted the help. 

Metro Denver data, presented to city councilmembers in November by Dr. Josh Barocas, suggested it could cost $5 million a year to treat homeless-related frost bite cases. The data included average hospital costs related to frostbite treatment.

Under current policy, Denver deploys its cold-weather response, including opening emergency shelters, when the temperature goes down to 32 degrees. The average temperature during the 2022-23 Denver winter is anticipated to be 32.9 degrees.